Shuttle



Dec. 11, 1951 TAYLOR 2,577,929

' SHUTTLE Original Filed Aug; 19, 1947 F|G.|.' FIG.2.

Inventor ///77 rmax y Attorney:

Patented Dec. 11, 1951 UNITED STATES PATENT v OFFICE SHUTTLE Matthew Michael Taylor, Spon'don, near Derby, England, assignor to Celanese Corporation of America, a corporation of Delaware Original application August 19, 1947, Serial No.

769,400. Divided and this-application January '13, 1949, Serial No; 70,753. In Great Britain August 30,1946

3 Claims. 139207) rial No. 769,400,. filed August 19, 1947, relates to shuttles, andis: particularly concerned withshuttles for use in automatic looms in which, on exhaustion of a weft supply package in the shuttle of the loom, a freshsupply package is automatically inserted into the shuttle todisplace the exhausted package.

Weft supply packages for use in automatic looms of this type- (often known as cop-changing looms) are generally wound on weft package supports comprising a tube or spindle on which the yarn is wound, terminating in a heavy butt having several circumferential metal rings inset therein, which serve to locate the package in relation to gripping means within the shuttle adapted to engage and grip the butt. The large numbers of these yarnpackage supports required to carry a reasonable stock of ready-wound weft yarn represent a very considerable capital. expenditure which is idle in the interval (sometimes considerable) between the exhaustion of a weft package in the loom and the return of the re-wound package support tothe loom again. In order to reduce this expenditure; detachable butts have been proposed, e. g. for use in connection with mule cops, and in connection with ordinary weft pirns which are wound on slightly tapered cardboard or pressed fibre tubes into the base of which the detachable butt is screwed. These devices are not required in nearly such great numbers as the pirns of yarn that need to be in stock at any moment, since they can be applied to the yarn packages immediately before the yarn packages are supplied to the loom and are ready for re-use immediately upon exhaustion of the yarn packages in the loom. The devices, however, cause a substantial expenditure of time when they are being applied to the pirn tubes and are somewhat uncertain in use, being apt to come loose in the shuttle during weaving.

It has now been found possible, in automatic looms of the cop-changing type to use in conjunction with a weft pim wound on a plrn tube having a small projecting flange at the base thereof, a detachable butt provided with a plain spindle that is simply inserted into the bore of the tube, the correct positioning of the pirn tube with its flange in contact with the face of the detachable butt being ensured during the insertlon of the weft tube and butt into the shuttle, and being maintained firmly during weaving, by means provided in the shuttle for that purpose.

According to the present invention, therefore, a shuttle for use in automatic looms of the copchangingt'ype' and adapted to carry weftyfarn wound on a flanged pirn tube provided with" a detachable butt, comprises gripping means for receiving and gripping a detachable butt, carrying a flanged pirn tube and forced therewith into the shuttle, guide means presenting sloping surfaces adapted to'engage' the flange of said pirn tube and urge said flange into engagement with the face'of said butt, and holding means adapted to engage said flange n the shuttle and to hold it flrinly'in engagement with said face when said butt is gripped by said gripping means. Preferably; the means for guiding and the means for holding the flange in engagement with the face of the butt are in the form of s ring means, adapted to hold the flange in contact with the face of the detachable butt by spring pressure. Alternatively or in addition, however, some re silience in the pressure between flange and butt may be provided for by the inclusion of a spring washer beneath the flange when it is applied to the butt spindle. Where spring mean are em ployed' to constitute the guiding and holding, means, they can convenientl be formed as extensions of a pair of strong springs extending parallel to the length of the shuttle, and serving as the means for gripping the butt within the shuttle, said extensions reaching from the ends of said gripping means, upwards, inwards, rearwards and downwards.

The shuttle according to the invention renders practicable the use of a very simple form of detachable butt having a plain spindle adapted to fit snugly inside the bore of the pim tube, the snugness of the fit being relied on to keep the pim tube and the butt in engagement with one another until the pirn enters the shuttle. The fitting of such a butt to the pirn tube can be performed very rapidly at the loom and involves substantially no loss of time.

By way of example, one form of shuttle in accordance with the invention will now be described in greater detail with reference to the accompanying drawings in which:

Figure 1 is a plan of a shuttle provided with spring means for looking a pirn tube to a detachable butt therein, and

Figure 2 is a side elevation of the operative spring means of Figure 1.

The arrangement described in the drawings is suitable for .use in conjunction with pirns wound on pirn tubes made principally of cardboard or compressed fibre, but provided at the base with a metal ferrule, slightly coned to conform to the circumferential grooves extending round the surface of the c linder 4. Extending from the upper face of the cylinder 4 is a central spindle 6 adapted to fit snu ly inside the pirn tube I. The fit of the spindle 8 inside the bore of the pirn tube is relied on to keep the pirn tube and the butt in enga ement with one another until the pirn enters the shuttle I.

The assembled pirn and detachable'butt fit into the shuttle I as shown in Figure 1, the rings 8 being engaged by the two limbs 8 of a strong V-shaped spring 9 fitted in the shuttle, the inner faces of the spring being notched as at ID to recei e the rings 5 and locate the pirn and butt. The shuttle I is open, as is usual in copchan ing looms, both at the top and bottom so that the assembled weft package can be forced in from the top of the shuttle, displacing an exhausted weft package which is thereby forced out of the bottom of the shuttle.

Extending fromeach limb 8 is an auxiliary spring H for the purpose of engaging the flange l of the pirn tube and pressing it firmlyagainst the face of the detachable butt 4. Each -auxil-- iary spring ll, extending at first parallel to the length of the shuttle I for a short distance, then turns upwards and rearwards, and slightly in-' 5 wards, through a semicircle which brings it close to the upper face of the shuttle. The spring H then turns obliquely downwards at l2 and then sharply downwards at It. When a pirn, complete with detachable butt 4, is forced into the shuttle to displace an exhausted pirn, the flange l of the pirn tube is engaged by the auxiliary springs H and is firmly held against the .face of the butt 4 by the portions B of thesprings II.

If the flange 3 is not quite in contact with said,

face in the first instance, the portions I! of the gripping means for receiving and gripping a detachable butt carrying a flanged pirn tube when vsaid butt is forced with said pirn tube into the shuttle, guide means presenting sloping surfaces adapted to engage the flange of said pirn tube as it is entering the shuttle and to urge said flange into engagement with a face of said butt. and holding means adapted to engage said flange in the shuttle and to hold it firmly in engagement with said face when said butt is gripped by said gripping means.

2. A shuttle according to claim 1 wherein the guide means and the holding means are in the form of springs adapted to hold the flange in contact with the face of the detachable butt by spring pressure.

3. A shuttle according to claim 2 wherein the gripping means are in the form of two springs extending parallel to the length of the shuttle,

and wherein the guiding and holding means are constituted by extensions of said springs reaching from the ends of said springs upwards, inwards, rearwards and downwards.

MATTHEW MICHAEL TAYLOR.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS 

